Written Answers Thursday 26 July 2007

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive from where the costs associated with policing requirements, legal aid and legal costs in dealing with detainees at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre are met.

Kenny MacAskill: The costs associated with policing requirements are met from within the overall funding of £1.1 billion available to the police. Strathclyde Police receive £504.2 million of this total. Information on the cost of policing requirements for dealing with Dungavel is not held centrally and is a matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

  The costs of legal aid are met from the legal aid fund which is managed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Information on legal aid provided in relation to those detained at Dungavel is not held centrally.

Asylum Seekers

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs to Scottish police forces have been of any supporting work required in relation to asylum seekers in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.

Class Sizes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) P1, (b) P2 and (c) P3 classes will have 18 pupils or fewer in each local authority area in August 2007.

Adam Ingram: This information will not be available until February 2008, when the results of the 2007 Pupil Census are published.

Culture

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will increase citizens’ access to culture.

Linda Fabiani: I refer the member to question S3W-1447 answered on 25 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliamen113s website the search facility for which can be found at:  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what average time is taken by Disclosure Scotland to respond to applications for disclosure checks.

Kenny MacAskill: At week ending 15 July 2007, the average turnaround time for correctly completed applications where there was no need to gather information from police forces was 6.9 days.

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been to Disclosure Scotland for (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced disclosures in (i) each year since its establishment and (ii) each of the last 12 months.

Kenny MacAskill: It is not possible to provide separate figures for standard and enhanced disclosures. The information that is available is set out in the following table.

  

Period
Applications Received


Basic
Standard/Enhanced


2002-03
2,191
136,429


2003-04
178,818
187,162


2004-05
129,630
245,067


2005-06
209,484
331,267


2006-07
258,396
340,711


July 2006
21,035
30,141


August 2006
20,329
28,779


September 2006
19,633
30,411


October 2006
22,007
27,510


November 2006
22,461
32,455


December 2006
16,171
22,978


January 2007
21,328
23,751


February 2007
22,958
28,329


March 2007
28,339
32,292


April 2007
24,829
24,982


May 2007
28,601
30,328


June 2007
27,666
31,285

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland have fallen outwith the turnaround times stipulated by each service agreement for (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced disclosures in (i) each year since its establishment and (ii) each of the last six months.

Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland measures performance for Basic applications, and for standard and enhanced applications against a service level agreement target of 14 calendar days.

  The information requested is set out in the following table.

  

Period
% of Applications Outwith SLA


Basic
Standard/Enhanced


2002-03
1.0%
7.9%


2003-04
2.0%
24.6%


2004-05
1.2%
22.8%


2005-06
0.1%
6.0%


2006-07
0.0%
0.1%


January 2007
0.0%
0.0%


February 2007
0.0%
0.0%


March 2007
0.0%
0.0%


April 2007
0.0%
0.0%


May 2007
0.0%
0.1%


June 2007
0.0%
0.1%

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to Disclosure Scotland for disclosure checks have been returned to the applicants due to errors in (a) each year since its establishment and (b) each of the last six months, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of applications in each category of disclosure.

Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland has been recording application returns since April 2004. They do not gather information separately for the different levels of check. The available information is provided in the following table.

  

Period
Number ofApplications Returned
% of Applications Returned


2004-05
36,870
9.84%


2005-06
44,828
8.29%


2006-07
47,270
7.89%


January 2007
3,255
7.22%


February 2007
3,847
7.50%


March 2007
4,917
8.11%


April 2007
3,522
7.07%


May 2007
4,974
8.44%


June 2007
4,740
8.04%

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland for disclosure checks no charge was levied in (a) each year since its establishment and (b) each of the last six months.

Kenny MacAskill: The cost of disclosure checks for volunteers working in the voluntary sector with children and adults at risk is met by Scottish Ministers. The following table sets out the number and percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland for which Scottish Ministers met the fee.

  

Period
Applications from volunteers in the voluntary sector working with children and adults at risk
Percentage


2002-03
9,242
6.53%


2003-04
30,119
9.42%


2004-05
38,351
8.59%


2005-06
56,172
10%


2006-07
54,084
7.74%


January 2007
3,450
8%


February 2007
4,316
8.42%


March 2007
5,191
9%


April 2007
4,771
10%


May 2007
5,178
9%


June 2007
4,745
8%

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for disclosure checks have been processed by Disclosure Scotland in each week since 1 April 2004 and what the average processing time has been.

Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland can provide this information on a monthly basis. Since April 2004 the number of applications and the average turnaround time for correctly completed applications where there was no need to gather information from police forces is set out in the following table.

  

Period
Applications Processed
Average Turnaround (days)


April 2004
51,857
13


May 2004
38,810
13.8


June 2004
38,932
17


July 2004
55,686
21.5


August 2004
50,113
10.3


September 2004
30,611
4


October 2004
29,521
3.5


November 2004
37,012
3.5


December 2004
26,279
4


January 2005
26,641
3.3


February 2005
30,689
4.3


March 2005
33,307
4.6


April 2005
35,965
4


May 2005
33,571
4


June 2005
42,808
5.5


July 2005
42,217
7.3


August 2005
42,017
7


September 2005
50,897
4.7


October 2005
50,012
5.6


November 2005
56,033
7.3


December 2005
40,265
12.1


January 2006
55,215
10.8


February 2006
49,356
3.8


March 2006
54,344
4.4


April 2006
46,005
3.7


May 2006
51,607
2.4


June 2006
53,592
1.8


July 2006
50,771
2.3


August 2006
49,272
1.7


September 2006
38,602
2.5


October 2006
56,059
4


November 2006
52,611
3.8


December 2006
42,409
4.4


January 2007
46,492
4.1


February 2007
46,528
3.6


March 2007
51,944
4.3


April 2007
57,857
5.1


May 2007
55,090
4.1


June 2007
55,799
3.8

Economy

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has participated in discussion, either through the UK Government or directly at EU level, on the development of the economic partnership agreements currently being negotiated between the European Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, or whether it expects to take part in such discussions in the future.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government has not participated in discussions on the development of the economic partnership agreements between the European Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. This is an issue that I will consider raising in future discussions with UK Ministers.

Equal Pay

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is for each local authority to implement equal pay agreements.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many equal pay claims in respect of each local authority are lodged with employment tribunals in Scotland.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has in respect of each local authority on how many equal pay claims to employment tribunals are now time barred.

John Swinney: The implementation of equal pay agreements in local government is a matter for local authorities and the information requested is not held centrally.

Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to give legal status to the Grandparents’ Charter.

Kenny MacAskill: No. The Charter for Grandchildren was designed as a non-legislative document to complement the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a list of all requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which were received by it from MSPs who were members of the SNP parliamentary group in the last Parliament and which were refused in whole or in part, showing the (a) name of member, (b) subject matter of the inquiry, (c) date of the request, (d) date of the refusal and (e) reason given for the refusal.

Bruce Crawford: A summary of all the requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which have been received from MSPs who were members on the SNP parliamentary group in the last Parliament which have been centrally recorded within the Scottish Executive is provided in a table entitled Summary of requests under Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 notified to the Scottish Executive Freedom of Information Unit from MSPs who were members of the SNP parliamentary group in the last parliament. A copy of this summary has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43260). The summary shows the MSP’s name; summary of the request and the date of the request. Additionally, where the information is centrally held, the summary includes the date of the response; the outcome as to release of the information; and the reason for refusal.

Further and Higher Education

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reaffirm the recent decisions of the Scottish Funding Council on the development of a new site for Motherwell College on the Ravenscraig site.

Fiona Hyslop: Funding decisions in relation to individual institutions are entirely a matter for the Scottish Funding Council, free from Ministerial interference.

  I understand that final consideration of capital grant towards a new purpose-built campus for Motherwell College at the Ravenscraig site will be given at the Council’s meeting scheduled for 25 October 2007.

Further and Higher Education

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken research into the reasons for the reduction in enrolments in further education from 450,000 in 2001-02 to fewer than 400,000 in 2004-05.

Fiona Hyslop: Enrolments over the period 2001-02 to 2004-05 fell from 514,801 to 450,437. No specific research on this point has been undertaken by the Scottish Executive itself. However, wider research commissioned by the predecessor to the Scottish Funding Council suggested that the reduction is associated with a shift away from shorter courses that do not lead to a recognised qualification towards courses which are longer or more intensive. In contrast to the reduction in enrolments over the above period, the amount of teaching activity delivered by colleges increased.

Heritage

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the creation of a national Roman centre in Scotland.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government, through Historic Scotland, is supporting the creation of an Antonine Wall Interpretation Centre in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow. This Centre, to be opened in 2008, will provide visual and virtual information on the Antonine Wall and on the Roman occupation of Scotland.

Heritage

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the Antonine Wall gaining a World Heritage Site designation.

Linda Fabiani: Yes. The Antonine Wall nomination for World Heritage Site status was prepared by Historic Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, and submitted to the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on behalf of the UK government in January 2007.

Historic Buildings

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the skills required to maintain our historic buildings are readily available.

Linda Fabiani: The craft skills shortage has been known by the Scottish Government for sometime, with the scale of the need quantified in recent reports. The Scottish Government, through Historic Scotland, has been actively involved in the support and development of traditional skills by:

  Managing the Heritage Lottery Funded £1 million training bursary scheme for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

  Developing a new National Progression Award in Conservation Masonry Qualification to enhance the skill base of the existing workforce.

  Sponsoring craft skills facilities through a number of key organisations, notably the Historic Scotland facility at Elgin and the Scottish Lime Centre Trust.

  Making craft training provision a condition of Historic Scotland grants.

  Working with the Sector Skills Council (Construction Skills), under a Minute of Agreement, to address craft skills shortages.

  Providing placements for training in key trades.

  Supporting the Scottish Stone Liaison Group and working with other bodies and industry on developing skills training opportunities and outreach work.

  Running careers outreach work sessions (craft skills tasters) with young people.

  Setting up and running Scottish Conservation Forum on Training and Education (SCFTE) to liaise and guide training activity in Scotland.

  Managing a professional body liaison Group to develop peer review accreditation in conservation skills and provide CPD support for building professionals.

Local Authorities

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to local authorities regarding the flying of flags on public buildings.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government’s flag flying guidance is issued to The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on an annual basis or when it is revised. Matters relating to the flying of flags on local authority buildings are determined by the relevant local authority.

Memorials and Commemorations

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what commemorations it will hold to mark the 100th anniversary of Winston Churchill becoming MP for Dundee on 8 May 1908.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government does not currently have plans to commemorate this anniversary.

Ministerial Meetings

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many briefings have been held between Scottish ministers and (a) the Director General of the Security Service, MI5, and (b) other directors from the Security Service since 3 May 2007.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many briefings were held between Scottish ministers and (a) the Director General of the Security Service, MI5, and (b) other directors from the Security Service from 3 May 2006 to 2 May 2007.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Security Service, MI5, has in any of its briefings to Scottish ministers disclosed what percentage of the estimated 2,700 active files held on individuals resident in Scotland are on persons who are duly elected representatives of (a) a Scottish local authority, (b) the UK Parliament, (c) the European Parliament and (d) the Scottish Parliament.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Ministers are briefed by the Security Service on matters relevant to Scotland as and when appropriate. In line with established practice it would not be appropriate to comment further on operational matters relating to the Security Service.

Modern Apprenticeships

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the numbers of people achieving modern apprenticeship (MA) status in each modern apprenticeship framework area affect future labour market projections for skills demand and, in particular, the needs of a knowledge economy.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Executive does not produce labour market projections. Labour market projections are however produced by FutureSkills Scotland. These projections are designed to provide a broad indication of likely future trends and are not detailed enough to identify the impacts of individual MA frameworks currently available.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why people requiring physiotherapy treatment have to wait up to 18 weeks to receive treatment.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government recognises the importance to patients of reducing waiting times for all services. Current waiting times targets and guarantees include only those services that are provided or led by consultant staff. There can be significant variations in the maximum waiting time to see other healthcare professionals, including physiotherapists. I have already announced our intention to develop and publish by the end of this year a refreshed action plan to implement the principles for health care policy and delivery that were outlined in the Kerr report. Our action plan will include a new and ambitious target for NHS waiting times: a new whole journey waiting time target of 18 weeks from general practitioner referral to treatment. The action plan will set out how we intend to meet the target by December 2011, and the range of services to which it will apply.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of hospital administration was for each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The amount spent by each NHS board since 1999 on hospital administration is included in the following table.

  

Table 1:
NHS Hospital Management Costs 1999-2000 – 2005-06


1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Argyll and Clyde
20,196 
22,884 
23,896 
25,680 
25,548 
35,411 
37,743 


Ayrshire and Arran
15,927 
18,632 
20,259 
22,454 
24,387 
25,601 
28,566 


Borders
6,605 
6,753 
7,241 
7,882 
7,790 
10,872 
7,618 


Dumfries and Galloway
8,806 
8,662 
8,939 
9,212 
7,438 
9,222 
9,975 


Fife
15,009 
16,066 
19,397 
19,142 
22,823 
20,014 
20,989 


Forth Valley
11,510 
11,828 
12,637 
15,764 
17,285 
18,261 
19,868 


Grampian
27,188 
29,609 
31,862 
34,923 
35,849 
31,650 
34,010 


Greater Glasgow
60,056 
72,357 
74,003 
81,850 
92,369 
81,322 
85,757 


Highland
10,674 
10,263 
12,041 
12,663 
13,775 
16,513 
18,432 


Lanarkshire
30,279 
33,315 
35,659 
36,903 
40,907 
42,742 
42,035 


Lothian
41,552 
48,099 
47,758 
57,599 
58,732 
63,475 
57,194 


Orkney
731 
885 
1,076 
1,260 
1,245 
1,269 
1,427 


Shetland
835 
872 
1,152 
1,280 
1,556 
2,277 
2,390 


Tayside
29,925 
35,005 
30,434 
33,260 
34,813 
38,966 
38,413 


Western Isles
1,530 
1,947 
1,992 
2,037 
2,355 
1,881 
1,849 


Total
280,823 
317,177 
328,346 
361,909 
386,871 
399,478 
406,265 



  The Boards’ spending on management costs are taken from the Scottish Financial Return (SFR) 5.2, which is completed by each hospital and submitted to the NHS National Services Scotland Information and Statistics Division for publication in the Costs Book.

  This expenditure reports the hospital management and administrative costs which includes the following support services:

  Medical: Hospital Medical/Paramedical Administrative Support;

  Nursing: Senior Nursing and Hospital Administrative Support;

  Medical Records;

  General: Hospital administration, including senior management; and

  Agency: Administrative agency staff and agency services.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planned admissions for in-patient and day case treatment have been cancelled in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on planned admissions for in-patient and day case treatment that have been cancelled for the years ending 31 March 2003 to 2006 by NHS board is shown in the following table. Data for the year ending 31 March 2007 is not yet complete.

  Table 1: Cancellation of Planned Admissions for In-Patient or Day Case Treatment;

  By Health Board Area: Years ending 31 March 2003-2007

  

In-patients
2003
2004
2005
2006


Scotland
9,380
7,959
6,898
7,111


Ayrshire and Arran
197
170
366
478


Borders1
148
119
159
70


Fife
373
543
498
594


Greater Glasgow and Clyde1
3,829
2,274
1,639
1,486


Highland
440
541
522
536


Lanarkshire
322
542
539
138


Grampian
1,036
1,116
1,013
1,000


Orkney
7
6
3
17


Lothian
1,347
1,441
1,164
1,609


Tayside
850
711
652
545


Forth Valley
277
459
321
620


Western Isles
14
36
22
12


Dumfries and Galloway1
534
-
-
-


Shetland
6
1
-
6



  

Day cases
2003
2004
2005
2006


Scotland
7,341
7,383
8,081
7,513


Ayrshire and Arran
79
73
130
179


Borders1
180
142
180
67


Fife
576
645
747
675


Greater Glasgow and Clyde1
2,433
2,087
1,861
1,679


Highland
448
743
1,053
1,103


Lanarkshire
979
950
1,447
365


Grampian
821
786
704
625


Orkney
8
9
19
24


Lothian
1,015
968
1,029
1,490


Tayside
450
474
539
493


Forth Valley
327
471
312
753


Western Isles
22
34
53
19


Dumfries and Galloway1
-
-
-
-


Shetland
3
1
7
41



  Note: 1 Information is missing/incomplete for the following locations:

  Borders General Hospital; year ending 2006

  Southern General Hospital; years ending 2003, 2005 and 2006

  Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow; years ending 2005 and 2006

  Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary; years ending 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Organ Donation

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the organ donor rate per million population has been in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The deceased organ donor rate per million population in each of the last five years, by nation of donation is set out in the following table. The figures are based on the location of the donating hospital and include heartbeating and non-heartbeating donors.

  

Area
2002 - 2003
2003 - 2004
2004 - 2005
2005 - 2006
2006 - 2007


Number
pmp
Number
pmp
Number
pmp
Number
pmp
Number
pmp


Scotland
58
11.5
46
9.1
61
12.1
48
9.5
50
9.9


England
654
13.0
650
12.9
613
12.2
654
13.0
657
13.0


Wales
33
11.2
44
15.0
47
16.0
42
14.3
51
17.3


N Ireland
32
18.0
30
17.2
30
17.2
20
11.5
35
20.1


Total
777
12.9
770
13.0
751
12.5
764
13.7
793
13.2

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of Strathclyde Police and what issues were discussed.

Kenny MacAskill: I met the Chief constable of Strathclyde Police earlier this month. We discussed matters relating to policing in Strathclyde and across Scotland as a whole.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified police officers are currently (a) fit for duty, (b) on recuperative duties and (c) on restrictive duties.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the wage bill is for police officers on restrictive or recuperative duties.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the absence levels have been across all police forces in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is shown in the following tables.

  Percentage of Working Time Lost Due to Sickness Absence for Police Officers

  

Police Force
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004


Central 
5.5%
5.8%
5.8%


Dumfries and Galloway 
2.8%
2.5%
4.2%


Fife 
4.9%
4.3%
4.5%


Grampian
2.7%
3.6%
3.8%


Lothian and Borders
5.8%
5.6%
5.5%


Northern
4.0%
4.0%
4.4%


Strathclyde
5.0%
5.0%
5.1%


Tayside
6.4%
5.3%
4.9%



  

Police Force
2004-2005
2005-2006


Central 
4.5%
3.6%


Dumfries and Galloway 
3.7%
3.4%


Fife 
5.3%
4.7%


Grampian
3.6%
3.4%


Lothian and Borders
4.5%
4.9%


Northern
4.0%
4.9%


Strathclyde
4.5%
4.6%


Tayside
4.6%
4.5%

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, on the basis of discussions with the police, how many active, serving officers it considers sufficient to achieve optimum results across Scotland.

Kenny MacAskill: Achieving optimum results is not simply a matter of numbers. We need to help our police forces work smarter and more efficiently to meet the complex challenges of modern policing – by cutting bureaucracy, streamlining processes, exploiting new technology and improving accountability.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase the number of serving police officers.

Kenny MacAskill: As I made clear during the Safer Stronger debate in June 2007, the Government is committed to delivering additional policing capacity during the course of this Parliament. An announcement on this will be made in the autumn.

Prison Service

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners are veterans, broken down by those from the (a) Royal Navy, (b) RAF and (c) Army, expressed also as a proportion of the total prison population.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table illustrates those prisoners who have reported as having been a member of any of the armed forces.

  The percentage is calculated based on the total SPS population including those released under the HDC scheme; 7466 as of 16 July 2007.

  

Service
Count
% of Population


Navy
9
0.12%


RAF
3
0.04%


Army
94
1.26%

Scottish Executive Buildings

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fly the Saltire permanently over governmental buildings for which it has responsibility.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage the flying of the Saltire throughout Scotland all year round.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government does fly the Saltire at all its buildings. The flag flying guidance has, since September 2005 stated that "The Saltire should now be flown every day."

Scottish Executive Buildings

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidance to all non-departmental public bodies for which it has responsibility to encourage them to fly the Saltire as the principal flag above those of their properties for which there is an existing flagpole.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government has, since June 2001, distributed its flag flying guidance to all non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility. The guidance advocates that the Saltire should be flown every day.

Scottish Executive Buildings

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, whose responsibility covers official flag flying, to remove the rule that the department applies with regard to the flying of the Saltire and the Union flag when flown together that the Saltire must never be flown in a superior position to the Union flag.

Linda Fabiani: The union flag is flown outside Scottish Government buildings on 18 dates a year by Royal Command. The Saltire flies outside Scottish Government buildings throughout the year.

  The Scottish Government believes that the Saltire is Scotland’s national flag and all such matters should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers. Such matters are currently the subject of a consultation exercise following the Government's publication of the constitutional reform green paper The Governance of Britain, published on Tuesday 3 July 2007.

  The flag-flying guidelines apply to the Scottish Government, its related agencies and associated departments. A copy is held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43157).

Scottish Executive Buildings

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it plans to make for the responsibility for official flag stations in Scotland to be devolved to Scottish ministers.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government believes that all such matters should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers. There are no immediate plans to make representations on this issue.

Sex Offenders

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were on the sex offenders’ register in each of the last five years.

Kenny MacAskill: The number of sex offenders recorded by the Scottish Police Services Authority as being registered with Scottish Police Forces in the last five years is shown in the following table.

  

Year
Number of Registrations


2002
1,724


2003
1,926


2004
2,244


2005
2,677


2006
3,122


2007 (1 June)
3,445

Student Finance

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it receives repayment of the graduate endowment from the Student Loans Company when students opt to add the endowment to their student loans and, if so, whether it receives that repayment in the financial year that the graduate endowment is due.

Fiona Hyslop: The Student Loans Company does not repay the graduate endowment loan. The student repays the graduate endowment to the Student Loan Company (SLC) and SLC remit the monies to the Scottish Executive (via the Students Award Agency Scotland).

  Income Contingent loans are collected by the Student Loans Company, through earnings by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) at the standard 9% of earnings above the income repayment threshold (£15,000 per annum).

  HMRC collect in arrears of the financial year, therefore the Scottish Executive will not receive repayment during the financial year in which the endowment is due.